Smart layered heater surfaces

ABSTRACT

A heater system and related methods of heating a surface are provided by the present disclosure that includes, in one form, a substrate defining a heating surface and a layered heater formed on the heating surface. A plurality of nodes are disposed along the heating surface and are in electrical contact with a resistive heating layer of the layered heater, along with a plurality of lead wires connected to the plurality of nodes. In one form, a multiplexer is in communication with the plurality of nodes through the plurality of lead wires, and a controller is in communication with the multiplexer, wherein the multiplexer sequences and transmits resistances from the plurality of nodes to the controller, and the controller controls an amount of power provided to each of the plurality of nodes based on the differences in resistances between the nodes.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/695,248, filed on Jun. 29, 2005, and titled “Smart Layered HeaterSurfaces.” The disclosure of the above application is incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to electrical heaters and moreparticularly to heaters and related methods for controlling andimproving temperature response time and schedules of a thermal loop forheating surfaces employed in cooking grill applications, among others.

BACKGROUND

The statements in this section merely provide background informationrelated to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.

In known applications such as cooking grills in commercial environments,a relatively large mass is provided as a cooking surface in order toreduce overall temperature variations during cooking cycles. This largemass, which is typically aluminum or cast iron, provides what is oftenreferred to as thermal inertia, such that placing items to be cooked ona cooking surface of the grill, e.g., a cold hamburger patty or an egg,does not significantly decrease the overall mass temperature.

Many known grill constructions generally include heating elementssecured to the underside of a grill. The heating elements are typicallytubular or strip heaters and are mechanically clamped and bolted to theunderside at spaced intervals. In another known grill construction,tubular heaters are cast into the large mass grill to improve contactbetween the heating element and the grill and thus provides for improvedheat transfer.

Because of the large mass of the grill and because most constructions donot provide intimate contact between the heaters and the grill, it hasnot been practical or possible for the heating of the cooking surface torespond rapidly to each and every load placed on the cooking surface.Accordingly, the thermal inertia of the grill has been the acceptedpractice for controlling the temperature at a desired level withoutsignificant variations. However, the large mass of the grill results inespecially heavy and bulky equipment that must be shipped and set up incommercial cooking environments. Additionally, the amount of energy thatis used to heat an entire grill to the desired temperature isconsiderable, and if the entire cooking surface is not being used,additional amounts of energy are wasted in keeping the temperature ofthe massive grill at the desired level.

For temperature sensing and feedback to control the temperature of thegrill, thermocouples are typically placed in certain areas of theunderside of the grill. However, the number of thermocouples that can beemployed is limited due to space and cost considerations. Additionally,thermocouples in these applications generally have a relatively slowresponse time due to their distance away from the surface of the grill.Because of the limited number of temperature sensors, real timeverification of actual temperatures along the grill has not beenpossible with known systems.

Most commercial cooking today is the result of temperature averagingdriven by the thermal inertia of the massive grill. The grill iscontrolled as a single loop so that the entire grill, or large sectionsof the grill, run at a desired average temperature. Accordingly, therehas not been a means by which to efficiently identify exactly what loadhas been placed on the grill, e.g. hamburger patties, much less a meansto easily and automatically determine where the new load has been placedon the cooking surface of the grill.

While control systems exist that can be programmed for specific cookingschedules or temperature profiles, there has been a need for a systemthat can automatically sense the exact location and type of loadintroduced, identify the appropriate cooking schedule or temperatureprofile, and heat just that load according to the appropriate schedule.

SUMMARY

In one preferred form, the present disclosure provides a heater systemcomprising a substrate defining a heating surface, a layered heaterformed on the heating surface, the layered heater defining at least oneresistive heating layer, and a plurality of nodes disposed along theheating surface and in electrical contact with the resistive heatinglayer. Additionally, a plurality of lead wires are provided that areconnected to the plurality of nodes, along with a multiplexer incommunication with the plurality of nodes through the plurality of leadwires. A controller is in communication with the multiplexer, whereinthe multiplexer sequences and transmits resistances from the pluralityof nodes to the controller, and the controller controls an amount ofpower provided to each of the plurality of nodes based on thedifferences in resistances between the nodes.

In another form, a heated cooking grill is provided that comprises agrill body defining a cooking surface and a heating surface opposite thecooking surface, a layered heater formed on the heating surface, thelayered heater defining at least one resistive heating layer, and aplurality of nodes disposed along the heating surface and in electricalcontact with the resistive heating layer. Differences in resistancesbetween the plurality of nodes are determined in order to providerequisite power to the plurality of nodes as a function of loads placedon the cooking surface.

In yet another form, a heater system is provided that comprises an uppersubstrate, a lower substrate, and a resistive heating material disposedbetween the upper substrate and the lower substrate. A voltage source iselectrically connected to the lower substrate, and the resistive heatingmaterial defines a positive temperature coefficient material such thatwhen a load is placed on the upper substrate, the resistive heatingmaterial provides for an increase in power proximate the load.

According to a method of the present disclosure, power to a heatingsurface in response to a load is controlled by measuring differences inresistances between a plurality of nodes disposed along the heatingsurface and in electrical contact with a resistive heating layer of alayered heater, and selectively providing power to the plurality ofnodes as a function of the differences in resistance.

Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will becomeapparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It shouldbe understood that the detailed description and specific examples, whileindicating the preferred embodiment of the disclosure, are intended forpurposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope ofthe disclosure.

DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will become more fully understood from thedetailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a bottom view of a heater system having a substrate defining aheating surface with nodes and constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view, taken along line 1-1 of FIG. 2, of theheater system constructed in accordance with the principles of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating communications between nodes,multiplexers, and a controller in accordance with one form of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a load placed on a heated grill and acorresponding temperature profile that is employed in accordance withthe principles of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of an alternate embodiment of the heater systemof FIG. 1 having a trace pattern and constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of an alternate embodiment of a heater systemhaving bus bars and nodes and constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is perspective cutaway view of another embodiment of a heatersystem employing a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material andconstructed in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure;and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a heater systememploying PTC materials and constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present disclosure.

Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description of the preferred embodiments is merelyexemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the disclosure,its application, or uses.

In accordance with the principles of the present disclosure, the amountof mass to be heated or cooled, for example in a commercial cookingapplication, is significantly reduced in order to more accuratelycontrol actual temperature response and schedules of a thermal loop.Additionally, the present disclosure employs layered heating technologyin order to provide both intimate contact with the mass to be heated andto improve response time through the properties of layered heatermaterials. Such layered heater technologies and constructions aredescribed in greater detail in copending application Ser. No. 10/752,359titled “Combined Material Layering Technologies,” filed on Jan. 6, 2004,which is commonly owned with the present application and the contents ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a heater system in accordance with oneform of the present disclosure is illustrated and generally indicated byreference numeral 20. The heater system 20 comprises a substrate 22defining a heating surface 24 and a load surface 26 opposite the heatingsurface 24. A layered heater 30 is disposed on the heating surface 24,wherein the layered heater 30 comprises a dielectric layer 31 on theheating surface 24, and at least one resistive heating layer 32 over thedielectric layer 31. The resistive heating layer 32 as shown defines acontinuous pattern that substantially covers the entire heating surface24. However, other patterns of the resistive heating layer 32, asdescribed in greater detail below, may also be employed while remainingwithin the scope of the present disclosure.

A plurality of nodes 34 are disposed along the heating surface 24 andare in electrical contact with the resistive heating layer 32 as shown.The nodes 34 function as terminal pads and are configured to providepower to the resistive heating layer 32 at each of the nodes 34 asrequired. Accordingly, a corresponding plurality of lead wires 36 areconnected to the nodes 34, and a multiplexer 38 is in communication withthe plurality of nodes 34 through the lead wires 36. For purposes ofclarity, not all of the lead wires 36 are shown, and it should beunderstood that at least one lead wire 36 is connected from themultiplexer 38 to each of the nodes 34. A controller 40 is alsoprovided, which is in communication with the multiplexer 38 as shown, inorder to control the amount of power delivered to each of nodes 34 froma power supply 42, as described in greater detail below.

As further shown in FIG. 2, another dielectric layer 60 is formed overthe resistive heating layer 32, but not over the nodes 34, in analternate form of the present disclosure. The dielectric layer 60provides protection for the outside environment from the resistiveheating layer 32 while also providing protection and thermal insulationfor the resistive heating layer 32.

The nodes 34, which function as terminal pads as commonly used inlayered heaters, are formed of a highly electrically conductive materialthat can transfer the requisite power to the resistive heating layer 32.The nodes 34 are thus formed directly onto the resistive heating layer32 in the desired locations according to the number of nodes 34 desiredfor a particular application. The lead wires 36 are joined to the nodes34 using techniques such as soldering, brazing, or ultrasonic welding,among others.

In another form of the present disclosure, the nodes 34 may be formed ofa more advanced material, such as, by way of example, a semiconductormaterial. As such, the resistance of an individual node 34 would have awide range in resistance versus temperature, and the resistance of eachnode 34 could be monitored at predetermined time intervals. Thedifferences in resistances of an individual node 34 over time could thenbe compared, rather than comparing differences in resistances betweenpairs of nodes 34, thus reducing the complexity of the multiplexingfunction, which is described in greater detail below.

In order to provide the proper amount of heat in the proper location,the resistance between each of the plurality of nodes 34 is continuouslymonitored, and the differences in resistances between the plurality ofnodes 34 is used in order to provide the requisite amount of power tothe nodes 34 and thus to the substrate 22, thereby providing an accurateand highly tailored temperature profile to the load surface 26. Forexample, when a load 50, e.g. a hamburger patty, is placed on the loadsurface 26, the resistance between node I and the surrounding nodes, A,B, C, H, J, O, P, and Q, will decrease, while the resistance betweenthese surrounding nodes, and the other nodes D-G, K-N, R-U and V-BB,does not change substantially. The difference in resistance between nodeI and the surrounding nodes thus indicates that the load 50 has beenplaced on the load surface 26, and the location where the load 50 hasbeen placed, and thus an increase in power is needed in order toincrease the temperature in this area. Therefore, the present disclosurecontemplates determining the differences in resistances between theplurality of nodes 34 and controlling the amount of power provided tothe plurality of nodes 34 in order to provide a tailored temperatureprofile to the load surface 26.

To accomplish the monitoring of nodes 34 and subsequently controllingthe power thereto, in one form, the multiplexer 38 sequences andtransmits resistances from the plurality of nodes 34 to the controller40, and the controller 40 controls the amount of power from the powersource 42 that is provided to each of the plurality of nodes 34 based onthe differences in resistances between the nodes 34. The multiplexer 38continuously sequences between each combination of nodes 34, e.g., A-B,A-I, I-Q, etc., and transmits resistances to the controller 40.Additionally, software may be employed within the controller 40, asdescribed in greater detail below, to facilitate the control of power tothe nodes 34.

More specifically, and with reference to FIG. 3, either one or aplurality of multiplexers, 38 and 38′, connects each lead wire 36 to thecontroller 40 for the purpose of both resistance reading and powerapplication multiple times per second, thus providing a highlyresponsive and automatic system for sensing, control and response. Inthe exemplary embodiment as illustrated herein, the multiplexer 38electronically switches to a first pair of leads 36′ and 36″ andtransmits signals from the nodes 34 connected to this particular set ofleads to the controller 40. The controller 40 then reads the resistancebetween leads 36′ and 36″ and places the reading in a push down stackmemory 44. The controller 40 is programmed to recognize any differencebetween each new reading and previous readings for each pair in amultiplexed sequence and thus recognizes if there has been a temperaturechange in any specific areas of the load surface 26. Accordingly, thecontroller 40 then decides if power must be applied to any pair(s) ofleads based on the temperature change.

Rather than through the same multiplexer, the power may be applied in asecond multiplexer 38′ as shown, such that one multiplexer 38 sequencesand transmits resistance signals from the nodes 34, and the othermultiplexer 38′ sequences and transmits power to the plurality of nodes34. In one form, power to a pair of lead wires 36 can be appliedinstantly after each resistance reading is taken and before themultiplexer 38 electronically switches the connection to another pair oflead wires 36. Therefore, multiplexer 38 and multiplexer 38′ aresynchronized such that, by way of example, when multiplexer 38 connectsthe controller 40 to a pair of lead wires 36, multiplexer 38′ is makinga connection from the power supply 42 to a different pair of lead wires36 and nodes 34 according to instructions from the controller 40, whichare based on comparing differences in resistances between the nodes 34,in addition to preprogrammed decision algorithms if desired.

Alternate timing schemes and configurations of multiplexers may also beemployed in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure, andit should be understood that the embodiment described herein should notbe construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. And asdescribed in greater detail below, preprogrammed temperature profilesmay also be employed, as a function of the type of load 50.

In one form, the substrate 22 is a heated cooking grill. Accordingly,the load surface 26 is a cooking surface, and the plurality of nodes 34are configured according to the size of cooking loads such as, by way ofexample, hamburger patties or eggs. As cooking loads are placed on thecooking surface, the differences in resistances between the plurality ofnodes 34 are determined in order to provide requisite power to theplurality of nodes 34 as a function of the cooking loads placed on thecooking surface. Therefore, with the use of layered heaters having moreintimate contact with the substrate 22 and their improved materialproperties over traditional heaters, combined with the principles of thenodes 34 according to the teachings of the present disclosure, theamount of mass that needs to be heated and/or cooled is significantlyreduced while controlling temperature and response time more accurately.Reducing the mass lowers the thermal inertia of the substrate 22 andthus allows for more rapid response to the addition or removal of heatto obtain a desired temperature at a specific location.

According to a method of the present disclosure, a predetermined powerprofile, or recipe, is provided to the plurality of nodes 34 as afunction of the differences in resistances of a specific cooking load.The predetermined power profile corresponds with a temperature profile,or recipe, that is desired for the specific type, e.g. hamburger patty,of cooking load. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a cooking load 52 isplaced onto a cooking surface 54 and must be cooked to a certaintemperature profile 56 as shown. Prior to placement of the cooking load52 onto the cooking surface 54, the cooking surface 54 is maintained ata steady state temperature t1. After the cooking load 52 is placed onthe surface, differences in resistances between the nodes 34 aredetermined and the controller 40 (not shown) provides the requisitepower to the nodes 34 in a proper sequence, as previously described,such that the cooking load 52 is brought to a desired temperature t2over a period of time as shown. The cooking load 52 remains attemperature t2 for another period of time, and then is brought down tothe steady state temperature t1 at or over another period of time asillustrated by the temperature profile 56. As a result, the cookingsurface 54 can be maintained at a lower temperature, thus conservingenergy, and the cooking load 52 is automatically cooked according to adesired recipe. Due to the reduction in thermal inertia provided by thepresent disclosure, the increased response time enables temperatureprofiling as illustrated herein. Additionally, automatically applying apredetermined recipe to specific types of cooking loads, as opposed to amanually operated system, could reduce the risks of undercooked foodsand their related health risks. Moreover, it should be understood thatthe temperature profile as illustrated herein is merely exemplary andshould not be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

Through the specific differences in resistances between the nodes 34 asdetermined by the heater system 20, the type of cooking load 52 can beautomatically determined, and thus the appropriate temperature profile56 can be automatically loaded and executed without the need for manualintervention. In one form, the temperature profiles 56 are loaded assoftware or firmware into the controller 40 and can be updated andmodified as necessary.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the resistive heating layer 32 defines a tracepattern 58 as shown rather than a continuous pattern as previouslydescribed and illustrated. The nodes 34 are thus disposed along theindividual traces 59 and power is applied to the nodes 34 as describedabove in accordance with differences in resistances between the nodes34. (The lead wires 36, multiplexer 38, controller 40, and power source42 are not illustrated for purposes of clarity). The trace pattern 58 asshown is generally a linear grid shape, however, it should be understoodthat other shapes, e.g., serpentine, circular, along with differenttypes of circuits, i.e., parallel, series, parallel-series combinations,may also be employed while remaining within the scope of the presentdisclosure. Additionally, the circuit may employ the teachings ofcopending application Ser. No. 10/941,609, titled “Adaptable LayeredHeater System,” filed on Sep. 15, 2004, which is commonly owned with thepresent application and the contents of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety. For instance, the resistive traces andtheir circuit configurations as described therein, may be employedbetween nodes and in a grid configuration as described herein and areconsidered to be within the scope of the present disclosure.

Yet another form of the present disclosure is illustrated in FIG. 6,wherein in addition to the nodes 34, a plurality of bus bars 70, whichmay be of varying shapes and sizes, are disposed along an outerperiphery 72 of the heating surface 24. The bus bars 70, which functionas terminal pads as previously described, are in direct contact with theresistive heating layer 32 and are thus in electrical contact therewith.Lead wires 74 are connected to the bus bars 70, and may also beconnected to the multiplexer 38 (not shown), in order to provide heatwithin the larger zones of A, B, and C as shown. As such, a more coarsedistribution of power can be applied to the substrate 22 rather than, orin addition to, the more tailored application of power through the nodes34. It should also be understood that any number of bus bars 70 may beemployed in any location along the heating surface 24, in addition toalong the periphery 72 and in the number and size illustrated herein. Itshould also be understood that the bus bars 70 may be employed withother shapes and configurations of the resistive heating layer 32, suchas the linear grid as illustrated in FIG. 5, while remaining within thescope of the present disclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 7, another form of a heater system in accordancewith the teachings of the present disclosure is illustrated andgenerally indicated by reference numeral 80. The heater system 80comprises an upper substrate 82, a lower substrate 84, and a resistiveheating material 86 disposed between the upper substrate 82 and thelower substrate 84. As further shown, a voltage source 88 iselectrically connected to the lower substrate 84, while the uppersubstrate 82 serves as a ground. However, the upper substrate 82 wouldnot necessarily have to function as a ground and could instead beoperated at a voltage different than that of the lower substrate 84. Theresistive heating material 86 defines a positive temperature coefficient(PTC) material such that when a load 90 is placed on the upper substrate82, the resistive heating material 86 provides for an increase in powerproximate the load 90.

The PTC material could be selected from among many types of materialssuch as Platinum that exhibit PTC characteristics. Platinum and othermaterials having such PTC characteristics can be used directly in theconstruction of a layered heater circuit, i.e. the resistive heatinglayer, or as dopants in other materials such as glass, ceramics, andpolymers to achieve a composite material that displays a significantshift in electrical properties as a function of temperature. Anothermethod of creating a material with PTC characteristics is to useconductive particles such as carbon in a matrix of ceramic or polymercomposite in which the glass, ceramic, or polymer matrix expands andcontracts significantly with temperature. The expansion of the basematerial with temperature causes a breaking up of the electricalconnections from particle to particle within the matrix and therebyincreases the overall electrical resistance of the materialcorresponding to the material temperature. An example of such a methodis described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,518, which is commonly owned withthe present application and the contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference in their entirety.

In operation, a voltage is set that corresponds with a desired cookingtemperature, which is transferred through the voltage source 88, throughthe lower substrate 84, through the resistive heating material 86, andto the upper substrate 82. When the load 90 is placed on the uppersubstrate 82, the resistance of the PTC material goes down due to thelower temperature of the load 90 relative to the upper substrate 82.Since the voltage is constant and the resistance of the PTC material 86initially goes down, more current flows in the region of the load 90.This relationship may be more clearly understood by the equation ofvoltage versus current and resistance:V=I ² R; where V=voltage, I=current, and R=resistance

As the current increases to compensate for the lower temperature of theload 90, the resistance of the PTC material 86 eventually increases withthe increase in temperature until the desired temperature is reached.Accordingly, the heater system 80 automatically adjusts the temperaturein response to the load 90 placed on the upper substrate 82, therebyproviding a more tailored and controlled temperature response.

Referring to FIG. 8, another form of a heater system using PTC materialsin accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure isillustrated and generally indicated by reference numeral 100. The heatersystem 100 comprises a lower substrate 102 and a plurality of uppersubstrates 104, wherein a plurality of heating elements 106 formed of aPTC material are disposed between the lower substrate 102 and the uppersubstrates 104. Additionally, a plurality of lead wires 108 connect theplurality of upper substrates 104 and heating elements 106 to amultiplexer 110, which is connected to a controller 112 and a powersupply 114. Therefore, the heater system 100 provides individual heatingzones proximate each of the plurality of upper substrates 104 andheating elements 106.

With this zoned heater system 100, a specific temperature and/or powerprofile (or recipe) can be provided to discrete zones based onvariations of voltage over time. For example, if a load is placedproximate zone A, the resistance of the heating element 106 of this zoneinitially goes down a certain amount, and as a result, the current inthis zone increases, followed by an increase in temperature. By varyingthe voltage over time, the controller 112 can achieve a specificprofile, which is commanded by the controller 112 to the power supply114, such that the load proximate zone A receives a desired temperatureprofile. Therefore, a PTC material is combined with temperatureprofiling to tailor the amount and location of heat that is delivered toa load. It should be understood that operation of the multiplexer 110,controller, 112, and power supply 114 are in accordance with theteachings of the present disclosure as previously described.

The description of the disclosure is merely exemplary in nature and,thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the disclosure areintended to be within the scope of the disclosure. For example, althoughthe substrate 22 is illustrated as flat and rectangular, it should beunderstood that any shape of substrate 22 may be employed, e.g. non-flatsuch as tubular, and other flat shapes such as circular, while remainingwithin the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally any number ofnodes 34 may be employed to form either coarser or finer grids of nodes34 according to specific application requirements, in addition tonon-uniform grids of nodes 34, while not departing from the spirit andscope of the present disclosure. Moreover, other parameters besides orin addition to differences in resistances may be sensed while remainingwithin the scope of the present disclosure. For example, a response to ahigh frequency stimuli, conductance, and inductance may also be sensedin accordance while remaining within the scope of the presentdisclosure. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure fromthe spirit and scope of the disclosure.

1. A heater system comprising: a substrate defining a heating surface; a layered heater formed on the heating surface, the layered heater defining at least one resistive heating layer; a grid of nodes having more than two nodes disposed along the heating surface and in electrical contact with the resistive heating layer; a plurality of lead wires connected to the grid of nodes; a multiplexer in communication with the grid of nodes through the plurality of lead wires; and a controller in communication with the multiplexer, wherein the multiplexer sequences and transmits resistances from the grid of nodes to the controller, and the controller controls an amount of power provided to each of the grid of nodes based on the differences in resistances between the nodes.
 2. The heater system according to claim 1, wherein the resistive heating layer is formed from a layered process selected from the group consisting of thick film, thin film, thermal spray, and sol-gel.
 3. The heater system according to claim 1, wherein the resistive heating layer defines a trace pattern.
 4. The heater system according to claim 1, wherein the resistive heating layer defines a continuous pattern that substantially covers the heating surface.
 5. The heater system according to claim 1 further comprising a plurality of heating zones, wherein each heating zone comprises a grid of nodes, and the controller controls the amount of power provided to each of the heating zones based on the differences in resistances between the nodes.
 6. The heater system according to claim 1 further comprising a dielectric layer formed on the resistive heating layer but not over the nodes.
 7. The heater system according to claim 1, wherein the heating surface defines an outer periphery and the heater system further comprises a plurality of bus bars disposed along the outer periphery, the bus bars being in electrical contact with the resistive heating layer, wherein the controller controls the amount of power provided to the plurality of bus bars based on the differences in resistances between the bus bars.
 8. The heater system according to claim 1, wherein the nodes are formed of a semiconductor material.
 9. A heated cooking grill comprising: a grill body defining a cooking surface and a heating surface opposite the cooking surface; a layered heater formed on the heating surface, the layered heater defining at least one resistive heating layer; and a grid of nodes having more than two nodes disposed along the heating surface and in electrical contact with the resistive heating layer, wherein differences in resistances between the grid of nodes are determined in order to provide requisite power to the grid of nodes as a function of loads placed on the cooking surface.
 10. The heated cooking grill according to claim 9, wherein the resistive heating layer defines a trace pattern.
 11. The heated cooking grill according to claim 9, wherein the resistive heating layer defines a continuous pattern that substantially covers the heating surface.
 12. The heated cooking grill according to claim 9 further comprising a plurality of heating zones, wherein each heating zone comprises a grid of nodes, and a controller controls the amount of power provided to each of the heating zones based on the differences in resistances between the nodes.
 13. The heated cooking grill according to claim 9 further comprising a dielectric layer formed on the resistive heating layer but not over the nodes.
 14. The heated cooking grill according to claim 9, wherein the heating surface defines an outer periphery and the heater system further comprises a plurality of bus bars disposed along the outer periphery, the bus bars being in electrical contact with the resistive heating layer, wherein a controller controls the amount of power provided to the plurality of bus bars based on the differences in resistances between the bus bars.
 15. The heated cooking grill according to claim 9 further comprising: a multiplexer in communication with the plurality of nodes; and a controller in communication with the multiplexer, wherein the multiplexer sequences and transmits resistances from the grid of nodes to the controller, and the controller controls an amount of power provided to each of the grid of nodes based on the differences in resistances between the nodes.
 16. The heated cooking grill according to claim 9, wherein the nodes are formed of a semiconductor material.
 17. A method of controlling power to a heating surface in response to a load comprising measuring differences in resistances between a grid of nodes having more than two nodes disposed along the heating surface and in electrical contact with a resistive heating layer of a layered heater, and selectively providing power to the grid of nodes as a function of the differences in resistances.
 18. The method according to claim 17, wherein a predetermined power profile is provided to the grid of nodes as a function of the differences in resistance.
 19. The method according to claim 17, wherein software determines the differences in resistances. 